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diff --git a/11569-0.txt b/11569-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f7ff2c --- /dev/null +++ b/11569-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1366 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11569 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 19. No. 547.] SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1832 [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + + + +WILTON CASTLE. + + +[Illustration: Wilton Castle.] + +Here is one of the ivy-mantled relics that lend even a charm to romantic +nature on the banks of the Wye. Its shattered tower and crumbling wall, +combine with her wild luxuriance, to form a scene of great picturesque +beauty, though, as Gilpin observes, "the scene wants accompaniments to +give it grandeur." + +These ruins stand opposite to Ross, on the western bank of the Wye. The +Castle was for several centuries the baronial residence of the Greys of +the south, who derived from it their first title, and who became owners +in the time of Edward the First. It may therefore be presumed to have +been one of the strongholds, in the great struggles for feudal +superiority with Wales, which were commenced by Edward, whose "active +and splendid reign may be considered as an attempt to subject the whole +island of Great Britain to his sway."[1] Or, in earlier times, being +situated on the ancient barrier between England and Wales, it may have +been a station of some importance, from its contiguity to Hereford, +which city was destroyed by the Welsh, but rebuilt and fortified by +Harold, who also strengthened the castle. The whole district is of +antiquarian interest, since, at the period of the Roman invasion, +Herefordshire was inhabited by the Silures, who also occupied the +adjacent counties of Radnor, Monmouth, and Glamorgan, together with that +part of Gloucestershire which lies westward of the Severn. The Silures, +in conjunction with the Ordovices, or inhabitants of North Wales, +retarded, for a considerable period, the progress of the Roman victors, +whose grand object seems to have been the conquest of these nations, who +had chosen the gallant Caractacus as their chieftain, and resolutely +exhausted every effort in defence of the independence of their country. + + [1] Mackintosh's Hist. England, vol. i, p. 247. + +The present demolished state of the Castle is referred to the Royalist +Governors of Hereford, by whose orders it was burnt to the bare walls +during the reign of Charles I. in the absence of its then possessor, Sir +J. Brydges. + +The scenery of the WYE, at this point is thus described by tourists: +"From Hereford to Ross, its features occasionally assume greater +boldness; though more frequently their aspect is placid; but at the +latter town wholly emerging from its state of repose," it resumes the +brightness and rapidity of its primitive character, as it forms the +admired curve which the churchyard of Ross commands. The celebrated +spire of Ross church, peeping over a noble row of elms, here fronts the +ruined Castle of Wilton, beneath the arches of whose bridge, the Wye +flows through a charming succession of meadows, encircling at last the +lofty and well-wooded hill, crowned with the majestic fragments of +Gooderich Castle, and opposed by the waving eminences of the forest of +Dean. The mighty pile, or peninsula, of Symonds' Rock succeeds, round +which the river flows in a circuit of seven miles, though the opposite +points of the isthmus are only one mile asunder. Shortly afterwards, the +Wye quits the county, and enters Monmouthshire at the New Wear. + +The Rev. Mr. Gilpin, in his charming little volume on Picturesque +Beauty,[2] has a few appropriate observations: after passing Wilton-- + + [2] Observations on the River Wye, &c. By William Gilpin, + M.A.--Fifth Edition. + +"We met with nothing for some time during our voyage but grand, woody +banks, one rising behind another; appearing and vanishing by turns, as +we doubled the several capes. But though no particular objects +characterized these different scenes, yet they afforded great variety of +pleasing views, both as we wound round the several promontories, which +discovered new beauties as each scene opened, and when we kept the same +scene a longer time in view, stretching along some lengthened reach, +where the river is formed into an irregular vista by hills shooting out +beyond each other and going off in perspective." + +We ought not to forget to mention Ross, and its association with one of +the noblest works of GOD--honest John Kyrle, celebrated as the Man of +Ross. Pope, during his visits at Holm-Lacey, in the vicinity, obtained +sufficient knowledge of his beneficence, to render due homage to his +worth in one of the brightest pages of the records of human character. + + * * * * * + + +"MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS"--EGGS. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +In a paper on the _Superstitions of the Sea_, a few years ago,[3] I +slightly alluded to the nautical belief that the appearance of the +Stormy Petrel, and other marine birds at sea, was often considered to be +the forerunner of peril and disaster; and as your excellent +correspondent, _M.L.B._, in a recent number, expresses a wish to know +the origin of the _soubriquet_ of _Mother Carey's Chickens_, which the +former birds have obtained, I now give it with all the brevity which is +consistent with so important a narration. It appears that a certain +outward-bound Indiaman, called the _Tiger_, (but in what year I am +unable to state,) had encountered one continued series of storms, during +her whole passage; till on nearing the Cape of Good Hope, she was almost +reduced to a wreck. Here, however, the winds and waves seemed bent on +her destruction; in the midst of the storm, flocks of strange looking +birds were seen hovering and wheeling in the air around the devoted +ship, and one of the passengers, a woman called "Mother Carey," was +observed by the glare of the lightning to laugh and smile when she +looked at these foul-weather visitants; on which she was not only set +down as a witch, but it was also thought that they were her familiars, +whom she had invoked from the _Red Sea_; and "all hands" were seriously +considering on the propriety of getting rid of the old beldam, (as is +usual in such cases,) by setting her afloat, when she saved them the +trouble, and at that moment jumped overboard, surrounded by flames; on +which the birds vanished, the storm cleared away, and the tempest-tossed +_Tiger_ went peacefully on her course! Ever since the occurrence of this +"astounding yarn," the birds have been called "Mother Carey's Chickens," +and are considered by our sailors to be the most unlucky of all the +feathered visitants at sea. + + [3] See Mirror, No. 205, vol. xi. + +To turn by a not unnatural transition from _birds_ to _eggs_, permit me +to inform your Scottish correspondent, _S.S._ (see No. 536,) where he +asserts that the plan of rubbing eggs with grease in order to preserve +them, "is not so much as known in our own boasted land of stale eggs and +bundlewood;" that the said _discovery_ has long been known and practised +in many parts of old England; and that the repeated experience of +several friends warrants me in giving a decided negative to his +assertion that eggs so prepared "_will keep any length of time perfectly +fresh_." If kept for a considerable period, though they do not become +absolutely bad, yet they turn _very stale_. I happen to know something +of Scotland, and was never before aware that the raw clime of our +northern neighbours was so celebrated for its poultry. _M.L.B._ is +certainly misinformed in speaking of the trade in _Scotch_ eggs to +_America_. The importation of eggs from the continent into England is +very extensive: the duty in 1827 amounted at the rate of 10_d_. per 120, +to 23,062_l_. 19_s_. 1_d_.; since which period there has, we believe, +been an increase. The importation of eggs from Ireland is also very +large. If _S.S._ resides in London, he may have occasion to sneer at +"our boasted land of stale eggs;" but he should rather sneer at the +preserved French eggs, with which the London dealers are principally +supplied. + +VYVYAN. + + * * * * * + + +THE CURFEW BELL. + +(To the Editor.) + + +In addition to the remarks made by _Reginald_, in No. 543, and by +_M.D._, and _G.C._, in No. 545 of _The Mirror_, let me add that the +Curfew is rung every night at eight, in my native town, (Winchester,) +and the bell, a large one, weighing 12 cwt., is appropriated for the +purpose, (not belonging to a church) but affixed in the tower of the +Guildhall, and used only for this occasion, or on an alarm of fire. + +In that city the Curfew was first established under the command of the +Conqueror, and the practice has continued to the present day. I have +been assured by many old residents, that it formerly was the custom to +ring the bell every morning at four o'clock, but the practice being +found annoying to persons living near, the Corporation ordered it to be +discontinued. + +To such of your readers who, like myself, are fond of a solitary ramble +along the sea shore by moonlight, I would say, go to Southampton or the +Isle of Wight; take an evening walk from Itchen through the fields to +Netley, thence to the Abbey and Fort ruins, under woods that for a +considerable distance skirt the coast; or on the opposite side, through +the Forest of Oaks, from Eling to Dibden, and onwards over the meadows +to Hythe: there they may, in either, find ample food for reflection, +connected with the Curfew Bell. + +Seated on a fragment of the towers of Netley Abbey, whose pinnacles were +so often hailed by seamen as well known landmarks, but whose Curfew has +for centuries been quiet, the spectator may see before him the crumbling +remains of a fort, erected hundreds of years ago. On the left is an +expanse of water as far as the eye can reach, and in his front the +celebrated New Forest,-- + + Majestic woods of ever vigorous green, + Stage above stage, high waving o'er the bills; + Or to the far horizon wide diffus'd, + A boundless deep immensity of shade-- + +the scene of William's tyranny and atrocity, the spot where his children +met their untimely end, and where may be seen the _tumuli_ erected over +the remains of the Britons who fell in defence of their country. + +In the deep recesses of a wood in the south-east prospect, the eye may +faintly distinguish the mouldering remains of the Abbey of Beaulieu, +famed in days of yore for its Sanctuary, the name of which is now only +recorded in history. Even the site of the tower is unknown, whose Curfew +has long ceased to warn the seamen, or draw the deep curse from the +forester. + +There they may + + "On a plat of rising ground, + Hear the far off Curfew sound, + Over the wide watered shore, + Swinging slow with sullen roar." + +The Curfew is rung at Southampton, Downton, Ringwood, and many other +towns in the west, every night at eight. + +P.Q. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. + + + * * * * * + + +SPANISH SCENERY. + + +The following is from the delightful pencil of Washington Irving: it +will be seen to bear all the polish of his best style:-- + +"Many are apt to picture Spain to their imaginations as a soft southern +region, decked out with all the luxuriant charms of voluptuous Italy. On +the contrary, though there are exceptions in some of the maritime +provinces, yet, for the greater part, it is a stern, melancholy country, +with rugged mountains, and long sweeping plains, destitute of trees, and +indescribably silent and lonesome, partaking of the savage and solitary +character of Africa. What adds to this silence and loneliness, is the +absence of singing-birds, a natural consequence of the want of groves +and hedges. The vulture and the eagle are seen wheeling about the +mountain-cliffs, and soaring over the plains, and groups of shy bustards +stalk about the heaths; but the myriads of smaller birds, which animate +the whole face of other countries are met with in but few provinces in +Spain, and in those chiefly among the orchards and gardens which +surround the habitations of man. + +"In the interior provinces the traveller occasionally traverses great +tracts cultivated with grain as far as the eye can reach, waving at +times with verdure, at other times naked and sunburnt, but he looks +round in vain for the hand that has tilled the soil. At length, he +perceives some village on a steep hill, or rugged crag, with mouldering +battlements and ruined watch tower; a stronghold, in old times, against +civil war, or Moorish inroad; for the custom among the peasantry of +congregating together for mutual protection, is still kept up in most +parts of Spain, in consequence of the maraudings of roving freebooters. + +"But though a great part of Spain is deficient in the garniture of +groves and forests, and the softer charms of ornamental cultivation, yet +its scenery has something of a high and lofty character to compensate +the want. It partakes something of the attributes of its people; and I +think that I better understand the proud, hardy, frugal, and abstemious +Spaniard, his manly defiance of hardships, and contempt of effeminate +indulgences, since I have seen the country he inhabits. + +"There is something, too, in the sternly simple features of the Spanish +landscape, that impresses on the soul a feeling of sublimity. The +immense plains of the Castiles and of La Mancha, extending as far as the +eye can reach, derive an interest from their very nakedness and +immensity, and have something of the solemn grandeur of the ocean. In +ranging over these boundless wastes, the eye catches sight here and +there of a straggling herd of cattle attended by a lonely herdsman, +motionless as a statue, with his long, slender pike tapering up like a +lance into the air; or, beholds a long train of mules slowly moving +along the waste like a train of camels in the desert; or, a single +herdsman, armed with blunderbuss and stiletto, and prowling over the +plain. Thus the country, the habits, the very looks of the people, have +something of the Arabian character. The general insecurity of the +country is evinced in the universal use of weapons. The herdsman in the +field, the shepherd in the plain, has his musket and his knife. The +wealthy villager rarely ventures to the market-town without his trabuco, +and, perhaps, a servant on foot with a blunderbuss on his shoulder; and +the most petty journey is undertaken with the preparation of a warlike +enterprise. + +"The dangers of the road produce also a mode of travelling, resembling, +on a diminutive scale, the caravans of the east. The arrieros, or +carriers, congregate in convoys, and set off in large and well-armed +trains on appointed days; while additional travellers swell their +number, and contribute to their strength. In this primitive way is the +commerce of the country carried on. The muleteer is the general medium +of traffic, and the legitimate traverser of the land, crossing the +peninsula from the Pyrenees and the Asturias to the Alpuxarras, the +Serrania de Ronda, and even to the gates of Gibraltar. He lives frugally +and hardily: his alforjas of coarse cloth hold his scanty stock of +provisions; a leathern bottle, hanging at his saddle-bow, contains wine +or water, for a supply across barren mountains and thirsty plains. A +mule-cloth spread upon the ground, is his bed at night, and his +pack-saddle is his pillow. His low, but clean-limbed and sinewy form +betokens strength; his complexion is dark and sunburnt; his eye +resolute, but quiet in its expression, except when kindled by sudden +emotion; his demeanour is frank, manly, and courteous, and he never +passes you without a grave salutation: 'Dios guarde à usted!' 'Va usted +con Dios, Caballero!' 'God guard you! God be with you, Cavalier!' + +"As these men have often their whole fortune at stake upon the burthen +of their mule, they have their weapons at hand, slung to their saddles, +and ready to be snatched out for desperate defence. But their united +numbers render them secure against petty bands of marauders, and the +solitary bandolero, armed to the teeth, and mounted on his Andalusian +steed, hovers about them, like a pirate about a merchant convoy, without +daring to make an assault. + +"The Spanish muleteer has an inexhaustible stock of songs and ballads, +with which to beguile his incessant wayfaring. The airs are rude and +simple, consisting of but few inflexions. These he chants forth with a +loud voice, and long, drawling cadence, seated sideways on his mule, who +seems to listen with infinite gravity, and to keep time, with his paces, +to the tune. The couplets thus chanted, are often old traditional +romances about the Moors, or some legend of a saint, or some love-ditty; +or what is still more frequent, some ballad about a bold contrabandista, +or hardy bandolero, for the smuggler and the robber are poetical heroes +among the common people of Spain. Often the song of the muleteer is +composed at the instant, and relates to some local scenes or some +incident of the journey. This talent of singing and improvising is +frequent in Spain, and is said to have been inherited from the Moors. +There is something wildly pleasing in listening to these ditties among +the rude and lonely scenes that they illustrate; accompanied, as they +are, by the occasional jingle of the mule-bell. + +"It has a most picturesque effect also to meet a train of muleteers in +some mountain-pass. First you hear the bells of the leading mules, +breaking with their simple melody the stillness of the airy height; or, +perhaps, the voice of the muleteer admonishing some tardy or wandering +animal, or chanting, at the full stretch of his lungs, some traditionary +ballad. At length you see the mules slowly winding along the cragged +defile, sometimes descending precipitous cliffs, so as to present +themselves in full relief against the sky, sometimes toiling up the deep +arid chasms below you. As they approach, you descry their gay +decorations of worsted tufts, tassels, and saddle-cloths, while, as they +pass by, the ever-ready trabuco slung behind the packs and saddles, +gives a hint of the insecurity of the road. + +"The ancient kingdom of Granada, into which we are about to penetrate, +is one of the most mountainous regions of Spain. Vast sierras, or chains +of mountains, destitute of shrub or tree, and mottled with variegated +marbles and granites, elevate their sun-burnt summits against a +deep-blue sky; yet in their rugged bosoms lie engulfed the most verdant +and fertile valley, where the desert and the garden strain for mastery, +and the very rock is, as it were, compelled to yield the fig, the +orange, and the citron, and to blossom with the myrtle and the rose. + +"In the wild passes of these mountains the sight of walled towns and +villages, built like eagles' nests among the cliffs, and surrounded by +Moorish battlements, or of ruined watch-towers perched on lofty peaks, +carries the mind back to the chivalric days of Christian and Moslem +warfare, and to the romantic struggle for the conquest of Granada. In +traversing these lofty sierras the traveller is often obliged to alight +and lead his horse up and down the steep and jagged ascents and +descents, resembling the broken steps of a staircase. Sometimes the road +winds along dizzy precipices, without parapet to guard him from the +gulfs below, and then will plunge down steep, and dark, and dangerous +declivities. Sometimes it straggles through rugged barrancos, or +ravines, worn by winter torrents, the obscure path of the +contrabandista; while, ever and anon, the ominous cross, the monument of +robbery and murder, erected on a mound of stones at some lonely part of +the road, admonishes the traveller that he is among the haunts of +banditti, perhaps at that very moment under the eye of some lurking +bandolero. Sometimes, in winding through the narrow valleys, he is +startled by a hoarse bellowing, and beholds above him on some green fold +of the mountain side a herd of fierce Andalusian bulls, destined for the +combat of the arena. There is something awful in the contemplation of +these terrific animals, clothed with tremendous strength, and ranging +their native pastures in untamed wildness, strangers almost to the face +of man: they know no one but the solitary herdsman who attends upon +them, and even he at times dares not venture to approach them. The low +bellowing of these bulls, and their menacing aspect as they look down +from their rocky height, give additional wildness to the savage scenery +around." + +(From _The Alhambra_, or _New Sketch Book_, to which we propose to +return in a _Supplement_ in a fortnight.) + + * * * * * + + + +ANECDOTE GALLERY. + + + * * * * * + + +THE UNLUCKY PRESENT: A TALE. + + +A Lanarkshire minister (who died within the present century) was one of +those unhappy persons, who, to use the words of a well known Scottish +adage, "can never see green cheese but their een reels." He was +_extremely covetous_ and that not only of nice articles of food, but of +many other things which do not generally excite the cupidity of the +human heart. The following story is in corroboration of this +assertion:--Being on a visit one day at the house of one of his +parishioners, a poor lonely widow, living in a moorland part of the +parish, he became fascinated by the charms of a little cast-iron pot, +which happened at the time to be lying on the hearth, full of potatoes +for the poor woman's dinner, and that of her children. He had never in +his life seen such a nice little pot--it was a perfect conceit of a +thing--it was a gem--no pot on earth could match it in symmetry--it was +an object altogether perfectly lovely. "Dear sake! minister," said the +widow, quite overpowered by the reverend man's commendations of her pot; +"if ye like the pot sae weel as a' that, I beg ye'll let me send it to +the manse. It's a kind o' orra (_superfluous_) pot wi' us; for we've a +bigger ane, that we use for ordinar, and that's mair convenient every +way for us. Sae ye'll just tak a present o't. I'll send it ower the morn +wi' Jamie, when he gangs to the schule." "Oh!" said the minister, "I can +by no means permit you to be at so much trouble. Since you are so good +as to give me the pot, I'll just carry it home with me in my hand. I'm +so much taken with it, indeed, that I would really prefer carrying it +myself." After much altercation between the minister and the widow, on +this delicate point of politeness, it was agreed that he should carry +home the pot himself. + +Off then he trudged, bearing this curious little culinary article, +alternately in his hand and under his arm, as seemed most convenient to +him. Unfortunately the day was warm, the way long, and the minister fat; +so that he became heartily tired of his burden before he got half-way +home. Under these distressing circumstances, it struck him, that, if, +instead of carrying the pot awkwardly at one side of his person, he were +to carry it on his head, the burden would be greatly lightened; the +principles of natural philosophy, which he had learned at college, +informing him, that when a load presses directly and immediately upon +any object, it is far less onerous than when it hangs at the remote end +of a lever. Accordingly, doffing his hat, which he resolved to carry +home in his band, and having applied his handkerchief to his brow, he +clapped the pot, in inverted fashion, upon his head, where, as the +reader may suppose, it figured much like Mambrino's helmet upon the +crazed capital of Don Quixote, only a great deal more magnificent in +shape and dimensions. There was, at first, much relief and much comfort +in this new mode of carrying the pot; but mark the result. The +unfortunate minister having taken a by-path, to escape observation, +found himself, when still a good way from home, under the necessity of +leaping over a ditch, which intercepted him, in passing from one field +to another. He jumped; but surely no jump was ever taken so completely +_in_, or, at least _into_, the dark as this. The concussion given to his +person in descending caused the helmet to become a hood; the pot slipped +down over his face, and resting with the rim upon his neck, stuck fast +there; enclosing his whole head as completely as ever that of a new born +child was enclosed by the filmy bag, with which nature, as an indication +of future good fortune, sometimes invests the noddles of her favourite +offspring. What was worst of all, the nose, which had permitted the pot +to slip down over it, withstood every desperate attempt, on the part of +its proprietor, to make it slip back again; the contracted part, or +neck, of the _patera_, being of such a peculiar formation as to cling +fast to the base of the nose, although it had found no difficulty in +gliding along its hypothenuse. Was ever minister in a worse plight? Was +there ever _contretemps_ so unlucky? Did ever any man--did ever any +minister, so effectually hoodwink himself, or so thoroughly shut his +eyes, to the plain light of nature? What was to be done? The place was +lonely; the way difficult and dangerous; human relief was remote, almost +beyond reach. It was impossible even to cry for help; or, if a cry could +be uttered, it might reach, in deafening reverberation, the ear of the +utterer, but it would not travel twelve inches farther in any direction. +To add to the distresses of the case, the unhappy sufferer soon found +great difficulty in breathing. What with the heat occasioned by the +beating of the sun on the metal, and what with the frequent return of +the same heated air to his lungs, he was in the utmost danger of +suffocation. Every thing considered, it seemed likely that, if he did +not chance to be relieved by some accidental wayfarer, there would soon +be _death in the pot_. + +The instinctive love of life, however, is omni-prevalent; and even very +stupid people have been found, when put to the push by strong and +imminent peril, to exhibit a degree of presence of mind, and exert a +degree of energy, far above what might have been expected from them, or +what they were ever known to exhibit, or exert, under ordinary +circumstances. So it was with the pot-ensconced minister. Pressed by the +urgency of his distresses, he fortunately recollected that there was a +smith's shop at the distance of about a mile across the fields, where, +if he could reach it before the period of suffocation, he might possibly +find relief. Deprived of his eyesight, he acted only as a man of +feeling, and went on as cautiously as he could, with his hat in his +hand. Half crawling, half sliding, over ridge and furrow, ditch and +hedge, somewhat like Satan floundering over chaos, the unhappy minister +travelled with all possible speed, as nearly as he could guess, in the +direction of the place of refuge. I leave it to the reader to conceive +the surprise, the mirth, the infinite amusement of the smith, and all +the hangers-on of the _smiddy_, when, at length, torn and worn, faint +and exhausted, blind and breathless, the unfortunate man arrived at the +place, and let them know (rather by signs than by words) the +circumstances of his case. In the words of an old Scottish song, + + "Out cam the gudeman, and high he shouted; + Out cam the gudewife, and low she louted; + And a' the town neighbours were gathered about it: + And there was he, I trow." + +The merriment of the company, however, soon gave way to considerations +of humanity. Ludicrous as was the minister, with such an object where +his head should have been, and with the feet of the pot pointing +upwards, like the horns of the great Enemy, it was, nevertheless, +necessary that he should be speedily restored to his ordinary condition, +if it were for no other reason than that he might continue to live. He +was accordingly, at his own request led into the smithy, multitudes +flocking around to tender him their kindest offices, or to witness the +process of release; and, having laid down his head upon the anvil, the +smith lost no time in seizing and poising his goodly forehammer. "Will I +come sair on, minister?" exclaimed the considerate man of iron, in at +the brink of the pot. "As sair as ye like," was the minister's answer; +"better a chap i' the chafts than die for want of breath." Thus +permitted, the man let fall a blow, which fortunately broke the pot in +pieces, without hurting the head which it enclosed, as the cook-maid +breaks the shell of the lobster, without bruising the delicate food +within. A few minutes of the clear air, and a glass from the gudewife's +bottle, restored the unfortunate man of prayer; but, assuredly, the +incident is one which will long live in the memory of the parishioners +of C----.--_Chambers' Edinburgh Journal._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE NATURALIST. + + + * * * * * + + +LOUDON'S MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. + + +Sundry and manifold are our obligations to this delightful Journal. From +the Number (26) for the present month we glean the following: + +_The Gurnard and Sprat._ + +Mr. J. Couch, in an interesting paper on the fishes of Cornwall, has the +following notes: + +"Ray observes that the word gurnard, which may be regarded as the +English term, is derived _a grunnitu_, from grunting like a hog. In +this, however, I venture to think this eminent naturalist mistaken. +Pengurn is the ancient Cornu-British name for these fishes, and +signifies hard head; and its English translation is now sometimes given +to the grey gurnard. From the Cornish word _gurn_ (hard), I therefore +derive the name, as descriptive of the head of these species. This is a +common fish at all seasons; but in December and January it sometimes +abounds to such a degree, that, as they are not much esteemed, I have +known them sold at thirty for a penny. It keeps near the bottom +commonly, at no great distance from land; but sometimes multitudes will +mount together to the surface; and move along with the first dorsal fin +above the water: they will even quit their native element, and spring to +the distance of a yard; thus imitating the flying gurnard, though not to +the same extent. In summer they are found basking in the sun, perhaps +asleep, as they will at times display no signs of animation, until an +attempt is made to seize them. + +"In reference to some observations by Mr. Yarrell, in the _Zoological +Journal_, relative to the distinction between the sprat and the young of +the pilchard and herring, I can state that Cornish fishermen term the +young of both the latter fishes sprats; but, how far this should go in +determining the judgment of a naturalist will appear, when I add that I +have never seen above one specimen of the genuine sprat in Cornwall, and +that was brought me by a fisherman, to be informed what fish it was. In +taking fish out of his net by night, he felt it to be neither a pilchard +nor a herring, and supposed it something rare." + + * * * * * + + +STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. + + +Birds may be said to constitute an isolated class of beings. They are +distinguished by certain characters from all other animals: their +classification does not pass into any other, and cannot, therefore, be +consistently introduced into the supposed chain or gradation of natural +bodies. + +The skeleton or bony frame of birds is in general lighter than in +quadrupeds. They have the largest bones of all animals, in proportion to +their weight; and their bones are more hollow than those of animals that +do not fly: air-vessels also enable them to blow out the hollow parts of +their bodies, when they wish to make their descent slower, rise more +swiftly, or float in the air. The spine is immovable, but the neck has a +greater number of bones, (never less than nine, and varying from that to +twenty-four,) and consequently of joints, and more varied motion, than +in quadrupeds. The breast-bone is very large, with a prominent keel down +the middle, and is formed for the attachment of very strong muscles: the +bones of the wings are analagous to those of the fore-legs in +quadrupeds, but the termination is in three joints or fingers only, of +which the exterior is very short. This will be better understood by the +annexed: + +[Illustration: Skeleton of a Turkey.] + +The muscles that move the wings downwards, in many instances, are a +sixth part of the weight of the whole body; whereas those of a man are +not in proportion one hundredth part so large. The centre of gravity of +their bodies is always below the insertion of their wings to prevent +them falling on their backs, but near that point on which the body is, +during flight, as it were, suspended. The positions assumed by the head +and feet are frequently calculated to accomplish these ends, and give to +the wings every assistance in continuing the progressive motion. The +tail also is of great use, in regulating the rise and fall of birds and +even their lateral movements. What are commonly called the legs are +analogous to the hind legs in quadrupeds, and they terminate, in +general, in four toes, three of which are usually directed forwards, and +one backwards; but in some birds there are only two toes, in others +three. + +Birds exceed quadrupeds in the quantity of their respiration, for they +have not only a double circulation, and an aerial respiration, but they +respire also through other cavities beside the lungs, the air +penetrating through the whole body, and bathing the branches of the +aorta, or great artery of the body, as well as those of the pulmonary +artery. + +Birds are usually classed according to the forms of their bills and +feet, from those parts being connected with their mode of life, food, +&c. and influencing their total habit very materially. + + * * * * * + + +THE RHINOCEROS BIRD. + + +This curious bird is of the order _Picæ_, or Pies, and of the genus +_Buceros_, consisting of birds of rather large size, and distinguished +by the disproportionate forms of their beaks, which are often still +further remarkable for some kind of large prominence on the upper +mandible. The most conspicuous species is the _Buceros Rhinoceros_ of +Linnæus, commonly called the Rhinoceros Bird. + +[Illustration: The Rhinoceros Bird.] + +Its general size is that of a Turkey, but with a much more slenderly +proportioned body. Its colour is black, with the tail white, crossed by +a black bar: the beak is of enormous size, of a lengthened, slightly +curved, and pointed shape, and on the upper mandible, towards the base, +is an extremely large process, equal in thickness to the bill itself, +and turning upwards and backwards in the form of a thick, sharp-pointed +horn, somewhat resembling the horn of the rhinoceros. The use of this +strange proboscis is by some supposed to be that of enabling the bird +more easily to tear out the entrails of its prey; but others affirm that +it is not of a predaceous nature, feeding only on vegetable substances. +This bird is principally found in the East Indian Islands. A remarkably +fine specimen was preserved in the Leverian Museum. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK. + + + * * * * * + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF A WANDERER. + +_A scene on the coast of Cornwall._ + + +A short time before my departure from the hamlet of Landwithiel,[4] I +was awoke early one morning by the roaring of the wind in the huge old +chimney of my room--the whole tenement, indeed, occasionally shook as a +violent gust swept down the valley, tossing the branches of the stout +old tree before the door to and fro in a way that threatened at last to +level them with the dust. The very briny scent of the atmosphere +convinced me there was some sea running in the bay; and it was the more +unexpected as we had had no tokens of a storm for several days previous. +From the peninsular situation of this county, surrounded on almost every +side with the restless ocean and exposed to the wide sweep of the +Atlantic, it may be supposed that storms are of frequent occurrence. As +on the present occasion, they often come with little or no warning; and +the effects of a hurricane in the distant main, far outstripping the +wind, sometimes rolls with tremendous fury towards our western shores, +on which the sea is encroaching in every part. + + [4] See "Recollections of a Wanderer," _Mirror_, Nos. 430-475. + +Landwithiel was a wild little place. It was essentially a "fishing +village." The people ploughed the deep, not the land; and the constant +exposure--blow high, blow low--on the restless sea, endued its +inhabitants, and the Cornish fishermen generally, with a fearlessness of +danger and boldness of character almost unequalled in these islands. The +lives and pursuits of the two great classes in this county--the maritime +and mining population--are widely opposite to each other. The one class +pass their existence on the stormy waters of the deep, whilst the other +labour far below the surface of the earth; each being continually +exposed to numberless perils and dangers. + +When I descended below I found my host already astir; so after attending +well to the inward man, I lost no time in starting towards the harbour. +As I formerly described, this comes abruptly in sight round a sharp +angle, at some elevation from the beach. On the upper part of the +descent the road was flanked on each side with a row of cottages, the +street being so steep that steps were formed in many parts to aid the +progress of the passenger. This gave an air of singularity and wildness +to the place, which was aided by the boldness of the surrounding +scenery. The street bore all the marks of the occupation of the +inhabitants--nets hanging to dry--strings of fish--an old oar--or a +"fisher's wife" broiling fish for her husband's breakfast--met the eye +on either side. + +On clearing the street, I observed a larger throng on the old pier than +was wont to gather there on ordinary occasions. There was obviously some +unusual subject of interest agitated amongst them; so I turned from my +course and joined the group. + +A gale is an important event in a fishing town. Independent of the +interest naturally felt for the various craft belonging to the place +which may happen to be afloat, there may be wrecks or other marine +casualties to excite the interest or cupidity of the observer. + +There was a tremendous tumbling sea rolling into the little bay, when I +drew towards the pier. At the further end was a group of persons in +earnest conversation, whom I distinguished as the knowing ones and +long-heads of the place; while their younger companions were engaged in +parties walking briskly to and fro on the pier. A tier of boats had been +carefully drawn up high and dry beyond the wreck left by the last spring +tide. Four or five, however, were afloat, and lurching heavily alongside +the pier, whither the tide had not long reached; the wind rattling +amongst the masts, shrouds, and half-bent sails of some craft which had +just run in for shelter from the impending storm. My recent adventure +had made me pretty well acquainted with most of the persons around: and +I learned that a _ground swell_ had been observed along shore the +preceding night. This phenomenon is generally occasioned by a storm in +the Atlantic, with a westerly wind; and it affords to the old fishermen +an almost certain indication of approaching foul weather. + +"A stiff bit of a gale, this same, Master Charles," said an old tar, +giving an energetic jerk to his trousers, "Ay, ay, old boy," he replied, +"this wind is not blowing for nothing, you may take my word for it; but +if the Jane and the Susan hove in sight I'd not mind a bit for all that; +we've not a stick afloat but her." + +"What! is Sam Clovelly[5] out this morning, Helston?" I anxiously +inquired of the pilot, who was a manly, excellent sort of fellow. He had +grown grey with service, and there was something in the steady eye and +calm decision of his look that marked him out as no common character. + + [5] See _Mirror_, No. 475. "Dawlish's Hole." + +"Yes, sir, we have no tidings of him yet, and the sky looking as black, +yonder, as the face of a negro; but we'll hope that he's run out of +harm's way before now." + +As the morning waxed apace, the interest in the fate of the Jane and +Susan became more evident amongst the by-standers. Every stick that came +in sight cut out conversation; but many an eye was cast anxiously to +windward in vain for poor Sam Clovelly and his brother Arthur, who had +been out since the preceding night. Presently the two little orphan +sisters of the missing men came upon the pier, and Helstone, the pilot, +and some of the others anxiously endeavoured to cheer and console them. + +"I'll be bound they've run for ---- port long ago, darlings, so don't +cry now, Jane; the old craft's stood many a stronger breeze than this; +now, wipe your eyes, there. Poor things," he said, turning to me, as the +children went farther on the pier, "their two brothers are the only +friends they have got in the world, and if they are gone who is to take +care of them? Their father, old Sam Clovelly, was lost--I recollect the +time well--somewhere off Milford; leaving his wife, with two stiff tidy +bits of lads, and likely to increase the family; well, sir, she took to +her bed, with the shock, and never rose from it more, after giving birth +to these two little girls, leaving poor Sam and Arthur to struggle on +like a cutter in a heavy sea. But God Almighty never deserts the +innocent, sir--you've seen that, I dare say? Sam's been a steady lad, +and has prospered, and he and Arthur have never forgotten their mother's +dying words, and have been very kind to their sisters; but, come what +will, the orphans shall never want a friend as long as Charley Helston +has a home or a bit of bread to offer them." + +We now again reverted to the state of the day. As the gale swept on, +numberless craft were running along the coast towards ---- port, for +shelter. A crack Fowey-man now making a board till she "eat out" of the +wind a North-countryman right ahead--now with her helm-a-lea, and now +careering along with a heavy following sea on either quarter--kept our +attention on the alert. Presently a steamer came in sight bearing up +across the bay towards ---- Head. The white rush of steam from her +safety-valves was well made out by the blackness of the windward +horizon; and contrasted with the dense puffs of smoke from her funnel, +which were instantly dispersed or carried in heavy patches to leeward. +The glory of modern discoveries is unpopular with our coasting-seamen, +and the mate of a coaster, who was watching her movements, observed that +"we should not have a lad fit to hand a sail or man a yard soon with +their cursed machinery." + +As she passed on her course "cleaving blast and breaker right ahead," +with her weather-wheel often spinning in the air, and as the sky +darkened and the waves roared louder, I thought with deep interest on +what might even now be the fate of those, without whose friendly aid I +should have been lying on a rocky pillow and seaweed for my shroud, near +Dawlish's Hole. The weather now became entitled to the formidable name +of a storm, but some time had yet to elapse before darkness added its +horrors to the scene of desolation. + +Heavy masses of breakers were continually striking the pier-head with +fearful crashes; now bursting over, amid seas of spray, with resistless +impetuosity, drenching every one under its lee; now recoiling for a +brief moment, as if to gather strength, leaving a smooth, hollow waste +of oily sea--like the treacherous pauses of human passion,--and then +returning with wilder haste and tenfold added fury to the onset. + +The morning was waning away. I left the pier, and bent my course away +from Landwithiel. + +The path I pursued led along the summit of the cliffs; oftentimes +winding so close round the edge of a projecting acclivity, that it +required a clear head and a steady foot, for one false step would have +been instant destruction. The coast below me was justly entitled to take +its place amongst the finest rock-scenery in the island; and exhibited +in its grandest form, the peculiarly wild and picturesque nature of the +coast of Cornwall. After working my way against a head-wind for three or +four miles, I took shelter in Dawlish's Watch Tower, an old half-ruined +building, which commanded an almost boundless look-out. Nearly right +opposite to this station lay the Wolf-stone, an insular, and almost +inaccessible rock, which rose in deep water about three-quarters of a +mile from land. Whilst scanning with my glass the windward horizon, I +accidentally rested on this islet, and I had not looked long before my +gaze was rivetted to it. Two individuals I fancied were standing near a +pole which was erected on the highest point. These lone and unusual +tenants of the sea-birds' home were obviously, from their motions, much +agitated. A heavy driving shower, for a few minutes, wrapped it in mist. +When this cleared off, the black and dreary front of the Wolf-stone +became dimly visible through the tumultuous assemblage of gigantic +breakers, that were every instant grappling with the steep which defied +them. Another minute's observation and I was running at my utmost speed +back to Landwithiel. The captives could be no other than Sam and Arthur +Clovelly. + +My arrival caused universal stir and interest in Landwithiel. The +Dasher, the best sea-boat in the harbour was instantly manned, with +directions to pull to Carn Cove, almost opposite the rock, whither the +rest of the men rapidly proceeded along the heights. Helston and myself +also went thither to consult in the first instance, as to the best plan +for relief; for no boat could live, in such a day as this, within some +distance of the rock. + +The anxious group gathered on the edge of the cliff; and while a white +flag was running up a boat's mast which we had erected on the tower, we +cheered loudly and repeatedly to assure the distant captives that aid +was nigh. + +"It is Sam--God be praised," sang out Helston, who was steadily looking +out through his glass--and every one crowded around. "And is Arthur +there too, Charles?"--"Yes, I see.--Death! I thought that wave would +sweep over all. Now they wave their neckcloths--they beckon us to use +haste. High water is drawing fast on, and what man ever lived on the +Wolfstone in a spring flood. They wave again; sing away there, my lads, +cheerily!" and a tumultuous shout of human voices again mingled with the +blast. + +Almost every eye was now cast out for the Dasher, and she was seen +pulling with great difficulty--for a handkerchief of canvass would have +been madness--towards the shelter of a projecting mass of rock, in Carne +Cove, in the comparatively smooth water behind which, Helston and myself +were enabled with some difficulty to get aboard. It was a moment of some +excitement. Accustomed from childhood fearlessly to brave an element +they might truly call their own, the gallant little crew steadily seated +themselves, and taking off their hats manfully answered the encouraging +cheers from aloft. The men now shipped their oars, and all having been +made snug, I seated myself in the stern-sheets, near Helston, who had +taken the helm. There was something fine in his weather-beaten +countenance, and grey hair streaming in the breeze, as he steadily +scanned the dark masses of the distant Wolf-stone--he was a true seaman. + +The Dasher was a boat that would live in almost any weather on this +coast, head to wind; but when she was put about, there was no little +danger of her being pooped in a heavy following sea. Ours was now the +former case, and as the crew put her through the contending sea, which +at every stroke hit our bows and soaked us with spray, I anxiously +consulted with Helston on the best means of shipping the captives on +making the Wolf-stone. Keeping his eye fixed on the rock, which was +grimly visible on our larboard bow, he shook his head as the portentous +darkness of the sky again claimed our attention. "If we had been delayed +a quarter of an hour longer they would have been food for fishes;" I +remarked, "but it will be close run; our men are doing all that strength +and skill can do, but it avails little when opposed to such a power as +this." + +"Never fear, sir, we shall do yet--you are not so cool as I--how should +you? when I have braved the storms of nearly sixty winters:--but the +Wolf-stone's a spot, I will frankly confess, with which I had rather +make acquaintance with a clearer sky and a flowing sheet, than on such a +night as this. Just give a look-out a-head, sir," he added, as we were +mounting a heavy sea, "and tell me how things are aloft on the rock." + +However formidable this dreary steep might have appeared at a distance, +now we were drawing near to it, the wildness and sublimity of the scene +surpassed my calculations. The fugitives, who by their gestures were +urging us onward, had been driven for shelter to a hollow on the leeward +side of the rock, which indeed was almost the only spot that now +afforded an asylum from danger. The waves as they came rolling onwards +with aggravated force from the main, ever and anon burst against the +isle with terrific violence, now breaking into gigantic masses, then +driven in columns of sparkling spray to a vast height in the air, and +now closing on every side around their victims. The isle, indeed, +appeared to be menaced with total annihilation. + +As we could now distinguish both the brothers, we instinctively cheered +them on drawing towards the landward side of the rock. They were +compelled every minute to crouch and cling to the cliff under which they +had taken shelter, as a huge wave burst below their feet, and struck +them in its upward violence. The Wolf-stone could no longer raise its +head in dominion over the main. The surf ran so high immediately around +it, that to approach at all closely would only have ended in the +destruction of every soul. We, therefore, hailed them as we stood under +its lee, and found that in consequence of their having remained almost +all night on this dreary spot, drenched with wet, and chilled with cold, +any effort to swim through the surf would probably be fatal in their +exhausted state. What then remained to be done? We had ropes on board +which would be of infinite service, could we only devise means to convey +them to the rock. At this juncture, the services of my old +Newfoundlander, Retriever, came forcibly to my mind. The poor animal had +refused to be separated from me when we embarked, and lay at my feet in +the boat. On his exertions therefore depended the lives of our friends. +He soon understood the task he was to perform, and in another second was +dashing onwards through the waves. An affecting scene now took place +between the brothers, as to who should first avail himself of the +approaching aid. A gigantic rush of tide, which almost swept entirely +over the rock, told them, however, that time was precious. But Sam was +firm. The younger brother then plunged forward and was soon drawn safely +on board. He informed us, as Retriever again swam away with the rope, +that he feared his brother was much more exhausted than himself. With +breathless interest, therefore, we watched Sam tie the rope round his +body, and enter the water. The violence of the gale, at this instant, +compelled us to stand further off the rock; indeed, within a few minutes +we foresaw that its presence would only be indicated by a low black mass +indistinctly seen, amidst the boiling and restless waves of the ocean; +an appearance, I was told, which it only presents in the most violent +storms. Poor Sam, now seen, now lost, amid the foaming ridges of the +sea, came gradually along till within about forty paces from the boat, +when it was evident his strength had failed him. An arm was shot into +the air, then his head and shoulders rose rapidly, and there was a +sudden blank in the waters. "Pull away, my lads, for your lives," we +shouted, "or he is gone!" + + * * * * * + +"It was a hard run thing, I reckon, sirs," said Mr. Habbakuk +Sheepshanks, who was rather top-heavy that evening, to a numerous party +who were assembled round his capacious hearth at the "Ship-aground," +"but all's well, they say, that ends well, so we'll even drink the +health of the brothers in a glass of the free genuine Cognac." "What is +that you say!" said the exciseman.... + +VYVYAN. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + + * * * * * + + +LONDON AND THE PROVINCES COMPARED. + + +It is the nature of prosperous communities, and the fashion of modern +times, to centralize too much their numbers and their powers. But the +question of distribution and proportion is almost as important in +politics as that of production itself. Money and manure are not the only +things which are the better for being spread. London and the country +would both be gainers by transplanting bodily, a hundred miles off, some +dozens of its streets--inhabitants and all. There are whole counties +which we should like to colonize with the surplus talent of the +metropolis. That surplus talent comprises scores of men, waiting on +Providence, feeding on foolish speculations, hanging on the skirts of +some frivolous circle, doing nothing there, or worse than nothing, +spoiling and wasting daily, who, planted out into a sphere of more +favourable opportunities, are capable of being a blessing to a +neighbourhood. However, it is not a case for violent measures. We do not +propose that London should be compressed into _London proper_,--within +the bills of mortality; or that its clubs should be called out on +country service. Patriots, philosophers, and diners out, rusticating by +royal proclamation, and under the _surveillance_ of the police, would +not come with a temper very suitable to our purpose. An experiment of +that sort was made under more likely circumstance, and failed;--as all +experiments must, which seek to remove the symptoms, instead of trying +to act upon the cause. It was in vain that James I. pulled down the new +houses as fast as they were built; and that Charles I. ordered home the +country gentlemen. + +Although there seems something artificial, and almost monstrous, in the +actual size of London, the means which have led to this result are +altogether natural. Indeed, whatever forcing has been at any time used, +or prejudice fostered, has told the other way. Nothing has existed which +can be called a court or courtiers for the last two hundred years; and a +sort of feudal feeling still keeps our squires faithful to their halls. +Two exceptions only can be set down to our institutions. The distinction +of local courts obliges the English Bar to reside near Westminster; and +the duration of a modern session substitutes a house for the family of a +Member of Parliament, in the place of lodgings for himself. Under these +circumstances, as "the wen" has not been produced, so is it not likely +to be dispersed by any direct legislative application. To say the truth, +the grievance, in our opinion, is not in the _absolute_, but in the +_relative_ amount of the wealth, intelligence, and virtue, squeezed +together on those marvellous square miles upon which the capital stands. +We do not grudge it the pretty country which is hid under its basement +stories, any more than the social activity and happiness which live +along its crowded streets. We serve ejectments upon nobody. The only +question is, whether some would not do well to move of themselves. Among +the hopes and objects by whose influence 1,200,000 human beings are +collected on the same spot, a certain proportion will be found, which +have not been at all,--and more still, which have not been very +judiciously or magnanimously, considered. There are many in the higher +classes of its inhabitants especially, who, we suspect, on examining +into their principles and habits, will have some difficulty in +satisfying themselves that they have not chosen ill for their real +happiness; and, for all real usefulness, a great deal worse. But the +mistaken notion which most strips the country of its natural guardians, +is the fallacy, on the part of young and sanguine dispositions, of +believing that the motives and sphere of individual action rise in +proportion to the apparent magnitude of the scene. These are the +absentees most to be regretted. In the single line of professional +practice, and in its most successful instances, that may be the case. +But in taking ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, and in every other of +the varied departments of social duty, the sphere of useful action, +however nominally extended, will be found to be strictly and +substantially reduced. + +There can be as little fear that London will ever want any of the +elements of an enlightened and well-constituted community, as that it +will not be large enough. It is very different with the provinces. The +capital offers so many real, and still more, so many plausible +attractions to all that is active and refined, as well as to all that is +idle and selfish in human nature, that a long list of supernumaries and +expectants is sure, in every case, always to be at hand. It is the +lottery into which the credulous are eager to put in;--it is the theatre +on whose stage ambition and vanity are impatient to appear;--it is the +land of Cockayne, in whose crowded mazes the selfish escape from every +duty, and reduce their intercourse with their fellow-creatures to the +sympathies of visiting and of shopping. It is the seat also of liberal +society, and independent existence, among the friends and occupations of +one's choice. Lord Falkland, the love of his age, admitted, that +quitting London was the only thing which he was not sufficiently master +of himself ever to manage without a struggle. In this state of things, +it is plain that nobody can be of such consequence there but that he is +easily spared. The death of a town wit is handsomely celebrated, if it +furnishes five minutes' conversation for the table where he dined the +day before. He is replaced with the same regularity and indifference as +fresh snuff is put into a snuff-box, or fresh flowers are set out upon +the epergne. Nobody misses him. The machine goes on without perceiving +that the blue-bottle or the gnat has fallen from its wheel. + +The vastness and multiplicity and complexity of the organization by +which the movements of the capital proceed, as it were mechanically, do +not act merely by diminishing the general importance of individuals to +the system. Except in the case of very happy, and universal, and flowing +natures, or under the influence of accidental counteractions, a personal +risk, between extreme vagueness and extreme narrowness of character, is +incurred by the individual himself. In respect of employment, the +division of intellectual labour is so complete, that most persons in +such a situation are tempted to do their own piece of work, and no +more;--to rest satisfied with manufacturing the pin's head which happens +to have fallen to their share. Does a London life tend to quicken the +moral pulse and expand the heart? The forms of society are thrown into +too large a scale, and its pace is too rapid, to afford an opportunity +for the sort of intercourse by which alone a real acquaintance with, +understanding of, and affection for, each other can be obtained. No +means exist of getting there at any thing further than talents in men, +and beauty or accomplishments in women. + +Qualities which can be exhibited as a show are discovered and +appreciated accordingly. But wisdom and virtue, which are to the mind +what breath is to the body, have no part assigned or assignable to them +on such a stage. A man may pass a life in London without an occasion +arising by which his neighbours can learn whether he is an honest fellow +or a rogue. The consequence is, that a good deal of such a man's moral +nature gets imperfectly developed, and dies away. The appropriate object +is not brought sufficiently close and home to him to stimulate and call +forth his latent powers. Charity is perhaps better off than most. By a +satisfactory compromise, it falls into the hands of a mendicity society. +But there are other virtues which do not admit of being compounded for, +and their burden transferred to a committee, for two guineas a-year. In +these cases the moral tax is too often evaded altogether. We are well +aware that men of pleasure are far from being the only persons who have +turned into a maxim of life the sentence which the Duke of Buckingham +passed upon the dog which barked after him,--"Would to God you were +married and settled in the country!" It is evident that the word +_provincial_ is often felt, by characters of a higher strain and object, +to imply an imputation or admission of mediocrity. Now, greatly as +nations differ, it is generally admitted that all capitals are pretty +much alike. It follows therefore, that the characteristic spirit and +principle of a nation do not appear there to most advantage. Enow worthy +representatives of that spirit and principle are doubtless there; but +they are there too much as though they were not. It is an atmosphere +which no individual powers can penetrate, and where it needs more than +an ordinary sun to make itself felt or seen. We are satisfied that, on a +just estimate of the whole case, the provinces, as distinguished from +the metropolis, would be found in many instances, perhaps in most, to be +the home which a wise lover of himself, and a sincere lover of his kind, +would do well to fix in;--not indeed as the scene of a brilliant or +sybarite existence, but as the post of that salutary influence which +sinks deepest; and of that usefulness and happiness which last the +longest; as most visibly incorporated with, and represented by, our +fellow-beings.--_Edinburgh Review._ + + * * * * * + + +INFANCY. + +(_From the Feuilles d'Automne of Victor Hugo, translated in the Foreign +Quarterly Review._) + + + In the dusky court, + Near the altar laid, + Sleeps the child in shadow, + Of his mother's bed: + Softly he reposes, + And his lids of roses. + Closed to earth, uncloses + On the heaven o'erhead. + + Many a dream is with him, + Fresh from the fairy land, + Spangled o'er with diamonds + Seems the ocean sand; + Suns are gleaming there. + Troops of ladies fair + Souls of infants bear + In their charming hand. + + O, enchanting vision, + Lo, a rill up-springs, + And, from out its bosom + Comes a voice that sings. + Lovelier there appear + Sire and sisters dear, + While his mother near, + Plumes her new-born wings. + + But a brighter vision + Yet his eyes behold; + Roses all, and lilies, + Every path enfold; + Lakes in shadow sleeping, + Silver fishes leaping, + And the waters creeping, + Through the reeds of gold. + + Slumber on, sweet infant. + Slumber peacefully; + Thy young soul yet knows not + What thy lot may be. + Like dead leaves that sweep + Down the stormy deep, + Thou art borne in sleep, + What is all to thee? + + Thou canst slumber by the way; + Thou hast learnt to borrow + Naught from study, naught from care; + The cold hand of sorrow, + On thy brow unwrinkled yet, + Where young truth and candour sit, + Ne'er with rugged nail hath writ + That sad word, "To-morrow." + + Innocent, thou sleepest-- + See the heavenly band. + Who foreknow the trials + That for man are planned; + Seeing him unarmed, + Unfearing, un-alarmed, + With their tears have warmed + His unconscious hand. + + Angels, hovering o'er him, + Kiss him where he lies. + Hark, he sees them weeping, + "Gabriel," he cries; + "Hush," the angel says, + On his lip be lays + One finger, one displays + His native skies. + + * * * * * + + +STATE OF SOCIETY IN NEW SOUTH WALES. + + +The following exhibits but a lamentable picture of the "milk and honey" +of this favoured land: + +"The morals of the colony of New South Wales are of an exceedingly +depraved description. It is so far from being a country where men begin +a new life and enter upon a fresh course with resolutions of amendment, +that the testimony of all respectable men examined on the subject unites +in asserting that the habits of the freed men, even of those who have +acquired property and have families, are of the most dissipated +character. Of the emancipists, to whom grants of land have been made and +who are often wealthy, very few, not more it is said than half a dozen, +can be selected whose lives are not of a vicious description, who do not +indulge in dishonest practices of one sort or another, and who have not +risen to wealth by fostering and practising some species of villany. +These men procure convicts to be assigned to them, who become members of +the families, and assist them in carrying on their various frauds. In +Sydney the grog shops are very numerous, and grog shops are receiving +houses. A constant trade in stolen goods is going on between Sydney and +the remotest parts of the colony, and even between Sydney and this +country. The convicts in remote settlements have no means generally of +indulging in licentiousness, but they see constantly before them the +freed labourer who has, and they burn to enjoy similar privileges: and +should their place of occupation be too remote from a theatre of +indulgence, they get a week of holiday at Sydney, where they arrive in +numbers, and, for the time they stay, wallow in every species of +debauchery. In such a state of society the public standard of morality +must necessarily fall to a very low degree. The leaven spreads from the +corrupted part into the whole mass. Just as the slang of London thieves +is become the classical language of Sydney, so do necessarily a +familiarity with crime, hatred to law, and contempt for virtue, make +their way into the minds and hearts of those who are untainted with +actual crime. So far from a reformation being even begun in New South +Wales, it would seem that roguery had been carried a degree beyond even +the perfection it has reached here. Property is very insecure in Sydney, +and the most extraordinary robberies take place. Mr. James Walker, in +his evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, says 'the +colony has a curious effect upon the most practised thieves in this +country; one of the most experienced thieves in London has _something to +learn_ when he comes out there; probably he would be robbed the first +night he came into his hut.' This was the answer given by an experienced +settler to the question, whether he thought any considerable degree of +reformation took place among the convicts residing at a distance from +Sydney. It is nearly impossible that it should be otherwise. The master +can only punish his servant by travelling with him some twenty or thirty +miles to a police magistrate, by which he loses his own time, the labour +of his servant, perhaps for months, if he is condemned to a road gang, +and after his return has little advantage from his services. +Unwillingness to work for a master who has been the cause of his +punishment is a difficult feeling to counteract. The convict has the +game in his own hands: he either does no work, wounds himself, falls +sick, or perhaps, and it is not uncommon, spoils either the materials +entrusted to him, or the tools which have been put into his hands. + +"Mr. Busby, when asked respecting the prevalence of bush-rangers, who +are escaped convicts and others who have taken to the bush, says, in his +Evidence (5th Aug. 1831,) that within the last twelve months, or two +years, bush-rangers have been so numerous that it was scarcely possible +to travel a hundred miles on the road without being stopped: there was +scarcely a newspaper, in which there were not two or three instances of +persons, of every rank, being stopped. It was quite an unusual thing +formerly--but of late there has been a regular system of highway +robbery. The laws that have been enacted to put down this horrible state +of things, will serve for an index of the condition of the colony. They +do away with every appearance of personal liberty. 'One act empowered +magistrates to issue a warrant, authorizing constables to enter or break +into any house, within their district or county, by day or night, at +their own discretion; and to seize any person they might suspect to be +highway robbers or burglars; or any individual in the colony, without +any warrant or authority, may take another into custody, on the mere +suspicion that he is a convict illegally at large: if it appear to the +magistrate that he had a just or probable cause for suspicion, he is +justified in doing so. The onus of proving that he is not a convict +illegally at large, is thrown upon the suspected person, and if that is +not established to the satisfaction of the magistrate, he is liable to +be retained in custody, or sent to Sydney to be examined and dealt +with.' + +"The number of executions in New South Wales in the year 1830 exceeded +the whole number of executions in England and Wales, in the same year; +which, taking the proportion of the populations of the countries, makes +capital punishments upwards of three hundred and twenty-five times as +frequent as in the mother country. This horrid fact is pretty well, of +itself, an answer to all argument drawn from the idea of Reformation. +But direct testimony is abundant. Major McArthur, the son of one of the +wealthiest and most extensive settlers in the colony, and to whom it +owes so much for its present progress in production and commerce, +states, 'It is painful to know that those whose sentences have expired, +or to whom pardons have been granted, seldom or ever incline to reform, +even when they have acquired property. Intoxication and fraud are +habitual to them; and hardly six persons can be named throughout the +colony, who, being educated men, and having been transported for +felonies, have afterwards become sober, moral, and industrious members +of the community. Crime is of constant occurrence, and so completely +organized, that cattle are carried off from the settlers in large +numbers, and slaughtered for the traders in Sydney, who contract with +the commissariat. It is not, therefore, the vicious habits alone of the +town which are to be dreaded, but the effects that are communicated and +felt throughout the country. The agricultural labourer is encouraged to +plunder his master, by finding a ready sale for the property he steals, +and whenever his occupations call him to the towns, he sees and yields +himself to the vicious habits around him. He returns intoxicated and +unsettled to his employer's farm, and incites his comrades to the same +sensual indulgences, with equal disregard of the risk and the +consequences. To these causes the present vitiated and disorganized +state of the convicts in New South Wales is chiefly attributable; and +the extent of the evil maybe in some degree estimated, when it is stated +_that the expense of the police establishment amounts to more_ than +20,000_l_. per annum for a population of 40,000 souls." + +_Foreign Quarterly Review._ + + * * * * * + + +THE GATHERER + + +_Premiers._--The following list of premiers, from the accession of +George III. to 1832, with the number of peers created during their +respective premierships, may be acceptable at the present period:--Lord +Chatham, 9; Lord Bute, 9; George Grenville, 4; Lord Rockingham, 4; Duke +of Grafton, none; Lord North, 27; Lord Shelburn, none; Mr. Fox, 7; Mr. +Pitt, 90; Mr. Addington, 24; Lord Grenville, 3; Duke of Portland, 4; Mr. +Perceval, none; Lord Liverpool, 50; Mr. Canning, 7; Lord Goderich, 6; +Duke of Wellington, 2; and Earl Grey, 25.--W.G.C. + +_Peers_.--Number of peers (in the present peerage) created by each +sovereign, from the reign of Henry III. (1264) to the accession of his +present majesty:--Henry III., 2; Edward I., 7; Edward II., 6; Edward +III., 1; Henry VI., 5; Henry VII, 1; Henry VIII., 6; Edward VI., 2; +Mary, 2; Elizabeth, 8; James I., 15; Charles I., 10; Charles II., 16; +James II., 1; William III., 7; Anne, 14; George I., 15; George II., 20; +George III., 145; George IV., 46. W.G.C. + +_Theatrical Property in France_.--A dramatic author in France is +entitled, every night that his play is performed, to a fixed sum per +act, viz. 10 francs, for Paris; 5 francs for the large theatres in the +country; 3 francs for the second-rate provincial theatres; and 2 francs +for the third-rate. A bureau is established by government, to receive +the contributions, and any manager neglecting to make a return, is +punished by a heavy fine; the amount of which goes to the author. The +advantages arising from this system are also enjoyed by the widow and +children of the author. It is calculated that the author of the _Ecole +des Viellards_, derives nightly, from the performance of that piece, in +Paris, and the provinces, about 500 francs. Scribe, a successful +_vaudeville_ writer, is in receipt of a handsome income; and Merle was +able, from the contributions upon his pieces, to open the Port St. +Martin Theatre, upon a liberal scale, and thus to lay the foundation of +a brilliant fortune. T. GILL. + +_A Magdalene_.---A French bishop preaching, exclaimed, "A Magdalene is +present, she is looking at me, I will not mention her name, but I will +throw my book at her." He then raised his arm as if to put his threat +into execution, when all the women in the church ducked their heads. +"What," said he, "all Magdalenes." SWAINE. + +_Unwelcome Title_.--Charles Incledon, the vocalist, being asked if he +had ever read Murray's _Sermons to Asses_, replied, "he had not, he did +not like the book, the title was too personal." + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House.) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic, G.G. +BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; and by all Newsmen and +Booksellers._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11569 *** |